Dynamic integration time adjustment of a clocked data sampler using a static analog calibration circuit

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems are described for generating a process-voltage-temperature (PVT)-dependent reference voltage at a reference branch circuit based on a reference current obtained via a band gap generator and a common mode voltage input, generating a PVT-dependent output voltage at an output of a static analog calibration circuit responsive to the common mode voltage input and an adjustable current, adjusting the adjustable current through the static analog calibration circuit according to a control signal generated responsive to comparisons of the PVT-dependent output voltage to the PVT-dependent reference voltage, and configuring a clocked data sampler with a PVT-calibrated current by providing the control signal to the clocked data sampler.

REFERENCES

The following prior applications are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes:

U.S. Patent Publication US-2017-0309346-A1 of application Ser. No. 15/494,435, filed Apr. 21, 2017, naming Armin Tajalli, entitled “Calibration Apparatus and Method for Sampler with Adjustable High Frequency Gain”, hereinafter identified as [Tajalli I].

U.S. Pat. No. 10,200,218 of application Ser. No. 15/792,696 filed Oct. 24, 2017, naming Armin Tajalli, entitled “Cascaded Sampler with Increased Wideband Gain”, hereinafter identified as [Tajalli II].

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to communications systems circuits generally, and more particularly to the adjustment and control of circuits that instantaneously obtain an amplitude measurement of an input signal, relative to a provided reference signal level and clock.

BACKGROUND

In modern digital systems, digital information has to be processed in a reliable and efficient way. In this context, digital information is to be understood as information available in discrete, i.e., discontinuous values. Bits, collection of bits, but also numbers from a finite set can be used to represent digital information.

In most chip-to-chip, or device-to-device communication systems, communication takes place over a plurality of wires to increase the aggregate bandwidth. A single or pair of these wires may be referred to as a channel or link and multiple channels create a communication bus between the electronic components. At the physical circuitry level, in chip-to-chip communication systems, buses are typically made of electrical conductors in the package between chips and motherboards, on printed circuit boards (“PCBs”) boards or in cables and connectors between PCBs. In high frequency applications, microstrip or stripline PCB traces may be used.

Common methods for transmitting signals over bus wires include single-ended and differential signaling methods. In applications requiring high speed communications, those methods can be further optimized in terms of power consumption and pin-efficiency, especially in high-speed communications. More recently, vector signaling methods have been proposed to further optimize the trade-offs between power consumption, pin efficiency and noise robustness of chip-to-chip communication systems. In those vector signaling systems, digital information at the transmitter is transformed into a different representation space in the form of a vector codeword that is chosen in order to optimize the power consumption, pin-efficiency and speed trade-offs based on the transmission channel properties and communication system design constraints. Herein, this process is referred to as “encoding”. The encoded codeword is communicated as a group of signals from the transmitter to one or more receivers. At a receiver, the received signals corresponding to the codeword are transformed back into the original digital information representation space. Herein, this process is referred to as “decoding”.

Regardless of the encoding method used, the received signals presented to the receiving device must be sampled (or their signal value otherwise recorded) at intervals best representing the original transmitted values, regardless of transmission channel delays, interference, and noise. This sampling may occur independently in the time domain (as examples, in the analog domain using a sample-and-hold circuit, or in the digital domain using a clocked latch) and in the amplitude domain, (as examples, using a comparator or slicer) or as a combined time and amplitude sampling operation, using a clocked comparator or sampler. The timing of this sampling or slicing operation is controlled by an associated Clock and Data Alignment (CDA) timing system, which determines the appropriate sample timing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

Methods and systems are described for generating a process-voltage-temperature (PVT)-dependent reference voltage at a reference branch circuit based on a reference current obtained via a band gap generator and a common mode voltage input, generating a PVT-dependent output voltage at an output of a static analog calibration circuit responsive to the common mode voltage input and an adjustable current, adjusting the adjustable current through the static analog calibration circuit according to a control signal generated responsive to comparisons of the PVT-dependent output voltage to the PVT-dependent reference voltage, and configuring a clocked data sampler with a PVT-calibrated current by providing the control signal to the clocked data sampler.

Circuits performing timed signal amplitude measurements, commonly referred to as “samplers”, are known in the art. Combining the time-sampling behavior of analog sample-and-hold or digital latches with the amplitude comparison behavior of a digital comparator or slicer, they are a common element of Data Communications receivers, typically providing the interface between front-end analog signal processing, and back-end digital data handling.

Sampler circuits have been derived from analog signal comparators, clocked digital latches, and other mixed analog/digital circuit architectures, each such architectural variation having known benefits and limitations. One architecture in particular, the clocked dynamic integrator/sampler, has been recognized for its ability to enable high speed operation, while still drawing low supply current. Derived from the classic analog differential comparator as shown in [Tajalli I], the sampler operates dynamically, charging an internal circuit node under control of a clock signal, then discharging that node through the comparison circuit, providing a timed comparison of active and reference input signals at the moment of clock signal transition. One embodiment of a clocked dynamic sampler is described in [Tajalli II].

Although fast and drawing low power, the dynamic nature of these circuits may lead to drift and stability issues in a production environment. Although individual MOS transistors within a given integrated circuit may be matched closely, their absolute operational parameters, in particular gate threshold voltage, gain, and channel resistance, may vary considerably between die, as well as within a die over variations in temperature and supply voltage. These variations may result in differences in data detection accuracy between devices, and may also lead to degradation of data detection within a device over variations in operating conditions.

Embodiments are described to measure operational characteristics of samplers as part of a closed-loop control system to mitigate the effect of such variations. To minimize impact on the production data detection path, an independent static analog circuit is used as a measurement proxy for the dynamic production circuit's operational characteristics.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of a clocked dynamic integrator/sampler circuit.

FIG. 2 shows one embodiment of a static analog calibration circuit, which may be used as a measurement proxy for a dynamic circuit such as that of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of a reference branch circuit providing a known reference signal to be compared with a measured value as a decision input to a control signal generator.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating one method in accordance with an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

To reliably detect the data values transmitted over a communications system, a communications receiver must accurately measure its received signal value amplitudes at carefully selected times, typically at or near the center of that received signal's period of stability between transitions (i.e. once per receive unit interval, or UL) The source of the received signal may be derived from a single wire signal, or may be derived from a weighted linear combination of multiple wire signals, such as provided by a Multi Input Comparator or mixer (MIC) used to detect vector signaling codes.

In some embodiments, the value of the received signal is first captured at the selected time using a sample-and-hold or track-and-hold circuit, and then the resulting value is measured against one or more reference values using a known voltage comparator circuit. Alternatively, the analog level of the received signal may be measured against a reference voltage using a comparator or “slicer”, with the digital result captured by a clocked digital latch.

The optimum point at which the received signal is measured is commonly described as the “center of eye”, (referring to the well-known “eye diagram” of signal amplitude vs. clock intervals.) In the time dimension, the sampling point is typically determined by use of a local “receive clock” which is configured to occur at that desirable sampling time. Generation and ongoing control of such receive clock timing is well understood in the art, as Clock Data Alignment (CDA, also known as Clock Data Recovery or CDR) systems measure and incrementally adjust sample timing versus receive signal stability time to optimize sample timing.

Similarly, the optimum reference level for the received signal's amplitude comparison may be dynamically generated. Decision Feedback Equalization or DFE is one such technique used to improve signal detection capabilities in serial communication systems. It presumes that the transmission line characteristics of the communications channel between transmitter and receiver are imperfect, thus energy associated with previously transmitted bits may remain in the channel (for example, as reflections from impedance perturbations) to negatively impact reception of subsequent bits. A receiver's DFE system processes each bit detected in a past unit interval (UI) through a simulation of the communications channel to produce an estimate of that bit's influence on a subsequent unit interval. That estimate, herein called the “DFE correction”, may be subtracted from the received signal to compensate for the predicted inter-symbol interference. Alternative embodiments may perform the functionally equivalent operation of such subtraction, by measuring the received signal (e.g. using a differential comparator) at a reference voltage level derived from the DFE correction signal. Practical DFE systems apply DFE corrections derived from multiple previous unit intervals (herein individually described as “DFE factors”) to the received signal before detecting a data bit.

Circuits performing a combined amplitude/time measurement, commonly referred to as “samplers”, are also known in the art. Combining the time-sampling behavior of analog sample-and-hold or digital latches with the amplitude comparison behavior of a digital comparator or slicer, they are a common element of Data Communications receivers, typically providing the interface between front-end analog signal processing, and back-end digital data handling. Sampler circuits have been derived from analog signal comparators, clocked digital latches, and other mixed analog/digital circuit architectures, each such architectural variation having known benefits and limitations.

One sampler architecture in particular, the clocked dynamic integrator/sampler, has been recognized for its ability to enable high speed operation, while still drawing low supply current. Derived from the classic analog differential comparator as shown in [Tajalli I], the sampler operates dynamically, charging an internal circuit node under control of a clock signal, then discharging that node through the comparison circuit, providing a timed comparison of active and reference input signals at the moment of clock signal transition. One embodiment of a clocked dynamic sampler is described in [Tajalli II].

Although fast and drawing low power, the dynamic nature of these circuits may lead to drift and stability issues in a production environment. Although individual MOS transistors within a given integrated circuit may be matched closely, their absolute operational parameters, in particular gate threshold voltage, gain, and channel resistance, may vary considerably between die, as well as within a die over variations in temperature and supply voltage. These variations may result in differences in data detection accuracy between devices, and may also lead to degradation of data detection within a device over variations in operating conditions.

Embodiments are described to measure operational characteristics of samplers as part of a closed-loop control system to mitigate the effect of such variations. To minimize impact on the production data detection path, an independent static analog calibration circuit is used as a measurement proxy for the dynamic production circuit's operational characteristics.

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of a clocked dynamic integrator/sampler circuit, which in one particular embodiment is a component of a DFE computation subsystem. Dynamic circuits typically operate in multiple phases of activity, as controlled by an input clock signal. For the circuit of FIG. 1, transistors 111, 112, . . . 119 provide a charging path when input clock Clk is low, allowing current to flow from Vdd to charge the distributed capacitance of internal circuit node 125. The rate of charging may be configured by enabling more than one of the charging transistors using control signals [b₁, b₂, b_(n)]. As indicated by the ellipsis, additional instances as 220 may be included in parallel with charging path transistors 111, 112, etc. to support additional bits of control. For a given duration of clock-low charging interval and node capacitance, the terminal voltage of node 225 will increase for larger (i.e. more transistors enabled) values of control signal [b₁, b₂, . . . b_(n)]. When the charging paths are enabled, current flows through differential input transistors 130 and 131, in amounts proportional to differences in input signals Vin+ and Vin−. Thus, the output voltages at Vout− and Vout+ will be initially low (discharged), and increasing towards Vdd starting at the falling edge of Clk at rates determined by the input signals Vin+ and Vin− on transistors 130 and 131, respectively. The duration of this charging, also known as the integration time of the integrator/sampler, thus begins at the falling clock edge and ends when the output voltage of one of the output nodes becomes high enough that either transistor 140 or 141 no longer has sufficient gate-to-drain voltage to remain on.

When input clock Clk goes high, the charging path is interrupted, and discharge paths via two branches are enabled to reset the pair of output nodes prior to the subsequent sampling interval. As shown in FIG. 1, the discharge paths may include transistors 130, 140, 150, and transistors 131, 141, 151. Control signal en additionally enables or disables these discharge paths; for purposes of this description it may be assumed that en is configured such that transistors 140 and 141 are on, and the discharge paths thus can be enabled by the clock signal Clk.

In some embodiments, the structure of the clocked data sampler may be reversed, in which the pair of output nodes are pre-charged according to the sampling clock, and subsequently discharged at varying rates according to the input signal Vin+ and Vin−. Latches connected to the differential output nodes Vout+ and Vout− may be used to convert the integrated signal into a latched digital output for either implementation.

The resulting differential result Vout is dependent not only on the input signals, but to some degree also on the gain of input transistors 130/131 and the channel characteristics of transistors 140, 141, 150, 151, which are known to vary with the integrated circuit process, current, and over time and temperature. Thus, an associated control generator will typically adjust control signals [b₁, b₂, b_(n)], modifying the magnitude of the current when charging the pair of output nodes Vout+ and Vout− so as to obtain a consistent differential result.

In some scenarios, a sampler calibration may be performed by adjusting a current based a common-mode value, and then measuring the sampler performance to ensure the current provides a proper sampling interval. Such scenarios would provide a duplicate dynamic sampler as in FIG. 1, but it would need to be clocked at the same rate as the primary sampler and such circuit duplication would not eliminate the need for fast output measurement.

Alternatively, as described herein, a static analog calibration circuit is utilized as a measurement proxy for a dynamic circuit such as that of FIG. 1. It is noted that the inherent transistor characteristics producing the process- and environmental-variations in behavior of FIG. 1 are transistor gain, transistor threshold voltage, and transistor channel characteristics such as “on” resistance, and all of those elements are conducive to static or steady-state measurement.

FIG. 2 shows one embodiment of a static analog calibration circuit duplicating the structure of FIG. 1's dynamic circuit but omitting the clocked operation. Each transistor in the circuit of FIG. 2 is of identical size and design characteristics as its equivalent device in FIG. 1. Thus, as examples, static currents i₁, i₂, . . . i_(n) of FIG. 2 will be essentially identical to the initial (i.e. peak) charging currents i₁, i₂, . . . i_(n) of FIG. 1 for the same values of control signals [b₁, b₂, b_(n)]. The total current is herein called Σ₁ ^(n) i_(n)=i_(tot) for descriptive convenience. In the static embodiment of FIG. 2, both signal inputs are tied to Vcm, corresponding to the common mode voltage input of active inputs Vin+ and Vin−. For systems in which the input signals are capacitively coupled, this would be equivalent to the post-capacitor bias voltage. The static analog calibration circuit generates a process-voltage-temperature (PVT)-dependent output voltage Vfb based on the common mode voltage input and the adjustable current provided via transistors 211, 212, . . . , 219.

FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of a reference branch circuit providing a known reference signal to be compared with a measured value as a decision input to a control signal generator. The reference branch includes a current source 320 and transistors 330, 340, 350 that are topologically identical to one branch of the previous circuits, e.g., 130, 140, 150, respectively, with transistors of comparable size and design characteristics. However, the current provided by reference current source 320 is derived from a standard band-gap reference, and will be consistent across process variations as well as device voltage and temperature. Thus, Vref will represent a PVT-dependent reference voltage generated by applying a known and standardized reference current obtained from a band gap generator to transistors 330, 340, and 350 according to the common mode voltage input Vcm.

Comparator 310 compares the PVT-dependent output voltage Vfb obtained from FIG. 2 to the PVT-dependent reference voltage Vref, producing an error indication to control signal generator 380 which informs corrective changes to control signals [b₁, b₂, . . . b_(n)] and thus adjusting the adjustable current Lot. For descriptive simplicity, 380 is shown as incorporating up/down accumulator 381, which counts up or down based on the result of 310, thus modifying control [b₁, b₂, . . . b_(n)] and thus the sourced current i_(tot), so as to produce essentially equal results from the static analog calibration circuit of FIG. 2 and the reference branch circuit of FIG. 3. The same control signal value [b₁, b₂, . . . b_(n)] may then be applied to clocked dynamic integrator/sampler circuits as shown in FIG. 1, using the proxy measurement of the static circuit to provide updated control values for the active dynamic circuit.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method 400 in accordance with some embodiments. As shown, method 400 includes generating 410 a process-voltage-temperature (PVT)-dependent reference voltage at a reference branch circuit based on a reference current obtained via a band gap generator and a common mode voltage input, generating 420 a PVT-dependent output voltage at an output of a static analog calibration circuit responsive to the common mode voltage input and an adjustable current, adjusting 430 the adjustable current through the static analog calibration circuit according to a control signal generated responsive to comparisons of the PVT-dependent output voltage to the PVT-dependent reference voltage, and configuring 440 a clocked data sampler with a PVT-calibrated current by providing the control signal to the clocked data sampler.

In some embodiments, the adjustable current is adjusted until the PVT-dependent output voltage is equal to the PVT-dependent reference voltage, or within some predetermined threshold. In some embodiments, the reference branch circuit corresponds to a replica of a branch circuit in the static analog calibration circuit. In some such embodiments, the adjustable current is split between through two branch circuits of the static analog calibration circuit and has a magnitude that is twice the magnitude of the reference current.

In some embodiments, the method further includes enabling the static analog calibration circuit and the reference branch circuit via enabling transistors. In some such embodiments, the static analog calibration circuit and the reference branch circuit are enabled to calibrate the PVT-calibrated current. In some embodiments, the static analog calibration circuit and the reference branch circuit are enabled responsive to a change in temperature. In some embodiments, the static analog calibration circuit and the reference branch circuit are enabled at system startup. In some embodiments, the static analog calibration circuit and the reference branch circuit are enabled responsive to a change in common mode input voltage.

In some embodiments, the control signal includes a plurality of bits. Some embodiments may utilize a binary code control signal for enabling corresponding current sources having different sizes connected in parallel in the clocked data sampler. Alternative embodiments may utilize a thermometer code control signal for enabling corresponding equal-sized current sources connected in parallel in the clocked data sampler.

In some embodiments, the comparisons between the PVT-dependent output voltage and the PVT-dependent reference voltage are accumulated in an accumulator circuit. Such an accumulator circuit may be a digital accumulator configured to accumulate comparisons from the comparator 310 in a least-significant-bit (LSB) portion, while a most-significant-bit portion provides the multi-bit control signal. Alternative accumulation devices may also be used. In some embodiments, the comparisons between the PVT-dependent output voltage and the PVT-dependent reference voltage are generated using a chopper amplifier 310, as depicted in FIG. 3. Such an amplifier may be clocked by a system clock at a suitable rate, such as 50 MHz.

In some embodiments, the method further includes obtaining the common mode voltage input via a resistor-capacitor (RC) network connected to an output of a variable gain amplifier (VGA), the resistor-capacitor network operating on an information signal processed by the clocked data sampler. Such an RC network may correspond to a low-pass filter.

Other embodiments of control signal generator 380 may incorporate finite state machines, software or firmware executing on an embedded processor, or dedicated hardware to perform the described generation, measurement, adjustment, and configuration operations. In some embodiments, control signal operations occur periodically. In some embodiments, some or all of the static analog calibration circuit and the reference branch circuit may be powered down or disabled between measurements to reduce overall power consumption. Some embodiments operate at initial system startup to measure and compensate for process-related circuit differences. Further embodiments operate during some portion of normal system operation to measure and compensate for PVT-related variations. Control signals and/or their corresponding adjustments may represent equal-sized changes encoded in a thermometer code, binary weighted adjustments represented in a binary or gray code, and/or other functional encodings. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: a reference branch circuit configured to generate a process-voltage-temperature (PVT)-dependent reference voltage based on a reference current obtained via a band gap generator and a common mode voltage input; a static analog calibration circuit configured to generate a PVT-dependent output voltage responsive to the common mode voltage input and an adjustable current; a control signal generator configured to compare the PVT-dependent output voltage to the PVT-dependent reference voltage and to responsively generate a control signal for adjusting the adjustable current through the static analog calibration circuit, the control signal configuring a clocked data sampler with a PVT-calibrated current.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control signal generator is configured to adjust the adjustable current until the PVT-dependent output voltage is equal to the PVT-dependent reference voltage.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the reference branch circuit is a replica of a branch circuit in the static analog calibration circuit.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the static analog calibration circuit and the reference branch circuit each comprise enabling transistors, and wherein the enabling transistors are selectively enabled to calibrate the PVT-calibrated current.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the enabling transistors are selectively enabled responsive to a change in temperature.
 6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the enabling transistors are selectively enabled responsive to a change in common mode input voltage.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control signal generator comprises an accumulator configured to accumulate comparisons between the PVT-dependent output voltage and the PVT-dependent reference voltage.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the accumulator is a digital accumulator.
 9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the control signal generator comprises a chopper amplifier configured to generate the comparisons between the PVT-dependent output voltage and the PVT-dependent reference voltage.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the common mode voltage input is obtained via a resistor-capacitor network connected to a variable gain amplifier (VGA) operating on an information signal processed by the clocked data sampler.
 11. A method comprising: generating a process-voltage-temperature (PVT)-dependent reference voltage at a reference branch circuit based on a reference current obtained via a band gap generator and a common mode voltage input; generating a PVT-dependent output voltage at an output of a static analog calibration circuit responsive to the common mode voltage input and an adjustable current; adjusting the adjustable current through the static analog calibration circuit according to a control signal generated responsive to comparisons of the PVT-dependent output voltage to the PVT-dependent reference voltage; and configuring a clocked data sampler with a PVT-calibrated current by providing the control signal to the clocked data sampler.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the adjustable current is adjusted until the PVT-dependent output voltage is equal to the PVT-dependent reference voltage.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the reference branch circuit is a replica of a branch circuit in the static analog calibration circuit.
 14. The method of claim 11, further comprising enabling the static analog calibration circuit and the reference branch circuit via enabling transistors to calibrate the PVT-calibrated current.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the static analog calibration circuit and the reference branch circuit are enabled responsive to a change in temperature.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein the static analog calibration circuit and the reference branch circuit are enabled responsive to a change in common mode input voltage.
 17. The method of claim 11, wherein the comparisons between the PVT-dependent output voltage and the PVT-dependent reference voltage are accumulated in an accumulator circuit.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the comparisons between the PVT-dependent output voltage and the PVT-dependent reference voltage are generated using a chopper amplifier.
 19. The method of claim 11, further comprising obtaining the common mode voltage input via a resistor-capacitor network connected to a variable gain amplifier (VGA) operating on an information signal processed by the clocked data sampler.
 20. The method of claim 11, wherein the adjustable current through the static analog calibration circuit is twice a magnitude as the reference current. 